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Review of House of Lords investigative and scrutiny committee activity in 2023–24 Contents

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Chapter 4: Secondary Legislation Committees

Delegated Powers and Regulatory Reform Committee

96.The principal role of the Delegated Powers and Regulatory Reform Committee (DPRRC) is to examine bills introduced into the Lords and to report on any provisions which inappropriately delegate legislative power or subject the exercise of legislative power to an inappropriate degree of parliamentary scrutiny.

97.During the reporting year the Committee met 11 times, and published 28 reports covering 28 Government bills and 35 private members’ bills. They included fast-tracked bills, such as the Northern Ireland (Executive Formation) Bill174 and the Post Office (Horizon System) Compensation Bill,175 which had to be reported on at considerable speed; and reports on Government amendments to the Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill,176 the Online Safety Bill177 and the Pedicabs (London) Bill [HL].178

98.In December 2023 the Committee published an end of session report179 framed as an update to its 2021 thematic report entitled Democracy Denied? The urgent need to rebalance power between Parliament and the Executive.180 It highlighted that, although it appeared that the Government’s positive response rate to the Committee’s recommendations had improved, almost all major Government bills presented in the 2022–23 session were found wanting when assessed against the standards set by Democracy Denied?.

Joint Committee on Statutory Instruments

99.The Joint Committee on Statutory Instruments (JCSI) is comprised of seven members from each House and seeks to ensure that the legal drafting of statutory instruments laid before Parliament is complete, appropriate and does not exceed the powers set out in the Act under which the instrument is made. The terms of reference of the Committee are set out in Standing Order 74 of the House of Lords Standing Orders relating to Public Business.181 Under Standing Order 73, no motion to approve an affirmative instrument can be moved until the JCSI has reported on it, although the Standing Order does not prevent relevant instruments being debated in Grand Committee.

100.The Committee meets weekly during term time. During the reporting year the Committee met 33 times and published 33 reports. It considered 766 instruments (including both instruments subject to and those not subject to a parliamentary procedure) (277 affirmative, 394 negative and 130 no procedure), of which 86 were drawn to the special attention of the Houses.

101.The Committee is supported by a team of Counsel from both Houses, including three House of Lords Counsel. House of Lords Counsel advise on affirmative instruments, also assisting departments by undertaking pre-laying scrutiny.

Secondary Legislation Scrutiny Committee

102.The Secondary Legislation Scrutiny Committee (SLSC) scrutinises all instruments subject to a parliamentary proceeding. These are principally negative and affirmative instruments but also include, for example, proposed negative instruments (PNs) laid under the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 and the Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Act 2023, Immigration Rules and statutory Codes.

103.During the reporting year the Committee met 35 times and published 40 reports. It scrutinised 668 statutory instruments (238 affirmative and 430 negative), 10 PNs and two draft Policy Statements. The Committee drew 67 (10%) instruments to the special attention of the House, most often on the ground that the instrument that the instrument was politically or legally important. It also published 116 information paragraphs and two special reports: Interim Report on the Work of the Committee in Session 2022–23182 and Work of the Committee in Session 2022–23.183 The latter of these criticised the high rate of corrections to explanatory material relating to statutory instruments, though also welcomed a number of Government initiatives to improve the quality of that explanatory material.

104.The Committee is exploring the implications of recent revisions to the Better Regulation Framework: it held an evidence session with the Chair of the Regulatory Policy Committee in January 2024,184 and is likely to do further work on this topic in the 2024/25 financial year.

105.In July 2023 the House agreed to update the Committee’s terms of reference to add the sifting of PNs under the Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Act 2023, and remove reference to the now defunct provisions under the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 and the European Union (Future Relationship) Act 2020.185

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